Private Dining Rooms Chelmsford Essex

The county of Essex has a long and storied history, with great things born of its sweepingly varied and beautiful countryside since before the Romans came to these shores. Speaking of which, it was a tribe which held territory in what is now Essex, wronged by a neighbouring tribe, who aided Julius Caesar in his second invasion of Britain in 54BC. How did they help? Local knowledge but above all, provisions. Essex food and drink have long been prized and the land brings forth matchless produce of a huge variety of types. That's why it's such a great gastronomic opportunity to have The Green Man here in the heart of the Essex countryside, not far from where Chris and the rest of the Galvin family were born and raised. The qualities of a Great British pub, whether in Essex or elsewhere, have to include a real and tangible connection to the local area. Without this link to the people and the land, it's simply a place to eat and drink and, if we may get a little philosophical for a moment, we'd like to think The Green Man is more than that.

So, what makes a great Essex pub? As we've just mentioned, the connection to the community it serves and the wider area is key. If you are seeking to build a pace for people to come, relax and enjoy themselves, then it cannot exist in a vacuum but must speak to people, draw them in to make and keep a place in their hearts. The pub is a great British institution and that is very much a start. Though The Green Man has another side to it - arguably one of the best restaurants in Essex just happens to be part of our set-up - it is the honest welcome of a country pub which is the first thing to be offered when you step through the doors. In the list of attributes a great Essex pub needs to have then is a warm welcome and an honesty too - a pub is a place for quality, but not for standing on ceremony. For those of you who've joined us, you'll know that the two sides sit next to each other, joined by the great glass atrium which houses half our bar. It's this link which we think sums up what's possible in this part of Essex - capturing the essence of the country pub but also having space for private dining room Chelmsford Essex where things are done slightly differently. We set out deliberately not to be a gastropub, though we have nothing against them and indeed the movement has spurred the advance of seasonal home-cooked food across the country, but to offer both a proper pub experience and also, in the same building, create what we hope is one of the best restaurants in Essex.
We'll come back to this shortly but the essence of what we can offer with this set-up is a real pub and a real restaurant - joined in their welcome but giving different experiences to our guests in each. For a moment we're going to assume you don't know the pace so let us tell you about the journey we've tried to create.

Imagine you've come from Chelmsford, jumping in a taxi for the few short miles up to the village of Howe Street to visit us, leaving the car at home so both you and your partner can enjoy a drink with your meal. The cab winds its way through the countryside, spurning Essex Regiment Way and the fast but more mass-transit route it offers in favour of the route through Broomfield, the broad valley of the river Chelmer showing green in the early summer sunlight and the river itself sparkling as you catch sight of it to your right as you head north. Just before Little Waltham you turn left, the river still at your side, and head the short distance to the bright lights of Great Waltham, rolling gently through the village with its beautiful mix of Essex Vernacular houses and the occasional more modern home, centred around the church. From there you swing north again, crossing Walthambury Brook, tributary to the Chelmer which is still your companion close by to the east, past Waltham Cricket Club.

We, along with all of Essex, are intensely proud of the county team and everything they achieved, both historically and the great victory of late. The spirit of the game runs deep in these parts and we are lucky enough to have a close association with them, to the point that one of our private dining rooms is themed for them and the team joined us at our opening night! For sports fans, surely one of the best private dining rooms in all of Essex... But we digress. A short while after the cricket club, a right-hand turn swings you into the village of Howe Street, our home, and a few hundred yards onwards we appear on your right. The taxi swings into our carpark and as your view sweeps across the broad garden, speckled with comfortable tables and benches large enough to seat a family in comfort, you see that it leads all the way down to the river which has been your companion since nearly the moment you left Chelmsford those twenty or so minutes ago. The fence which marks the limit of the garden still shows its lazy sweep, while keeping rambunctious children out of harms way as the watercourse drains the surrounding area on its way, eventually, to the sea. Your eyes travel on, taking in pop-up bar in the garden, serving supper refreshments to the people gathered on the benches, meaning that they don't have to travel inside and can spend more time together in the sunshine. A few have chosen the shade of the pergola'd terrace with its hint of wisteria which surrounds the quiet drama of the modern but traditionally-minded double-height and barn-like bulk of the restaurant, where the eating experience is relaxed but with trademark Galvin dishes to add to the mix, making it what we have worked so hard to make it - one of the best restaurants in Essex, with a Bib Gourmand as a welcome seal on all that work. Travelling on, the atrium which links the two halves of The Green Man and provides your entry into both, the bar visible through the glass with people enjoying a quiet evening drink at the tables to either side of the door. Traveling on to complete its review, your eye takes in the pleasing bulk of the pub itself, radiating the warmth and comfort which come from having been part of this landscape for hundreds of years.

Stepping out of the car (a tip left with your friendly driver of course, who will return for you at the end of the evening) you walk up to the entrance where a member of staff, by chance heading out to the garden with heaped plates of food which you take note of to match to the menu later (seeing what others have ordered is always part of the fun), holds the door for you and you step through into the double-height space. You are heading first into the pub for a drink because, after all, The Green Man was named the best pub in the East of England and it would be churlish not to! Spotting a seat by the window, you settle yourselves before heading up to the bar. The hand-pumps and keg lines in front of you vie with carefully chosen selection of wines and spirits and you choose just as carefully. Taking your drinks back to the table, the smiling bar staff having been told that you'll be heading to the restaurant after these two, you settle down and take in the hammer-beamed space and its compliment of locals enjoying themselves and start to think about what you might have to eat...
An idealised journey for sure, but in creating a Great British pub in the heart of Essex we had to dream. Here's hoping next time you come to see us, your journey is even better.